I am a Canadian PR (expiry July 2024)/H1-B holder and had officially moved to Canada in Feb - 2021 from US. I got married in Dec - 2021 and got my wife on H4 back to US as Spousal sponsorship requires me to apply for her PR after I come back to Canada. We are currently in US and I plan to stay closer to Canadian Border and travel on a daily basis(staying in US) to meet Residency Obligation. As part of Spousal PR, do I need to reside in Canada to apply for her PR or can I travel on a daily basis back and forth? Also, for applying TRV for my wife, is it better to apply for visiting visa without me residing in the country. Please suggest.
Residency Obligation - Please advise. Inputs needed.
- Thread starter rohit.joshi
- Start date
These are kind of questions that are better be asked from licensed attorneys. You work in the US as H1b holder, and you want to sponsor your wife for Canadian PR. It's not clear from your post, whether you will continue to reside in the US and just cross into Canada on daily basis, or move to Canada and commute to work into the US? If you and your wife move to Canada and you just commute to work into the US, then I see no reason why you should not be able to sponsor your wife, but then again, I don't know the governing law relevant to your circumstances. And sometimes lawmakers pass convoluted and counterintuitive laws, and you never know what it is until you actually know. There was another poster here, asking if he can stay and work in the US, and just visit Canada for one hour or so a day (on his way from US house to US work), and thus maintain residency in Canada. My first guess was no, but then he brought a link to CIC and the specific regulation which said any time spend in Canada counts towards residency, so you can maintain Canadian residency just by biking into Canada for half an hour a day for couple of year in a five year period.
Good luck to you , and my suggestion is to consult licensed attorney. Many offer free initial consultations.
When did you land in Canada? You must meet 730 days in 5 years based on your landing date not expiry date on your PR card. Are you compliant with your RO? Does your spouse have a TRV if she wanted to enter Canada?
Thank you for your reply. Please see below.
1) I'll continue reside in US and cross into Canada on a daily basis till at least my wife's TRV is approved. I'll be applying for both TRV & PR for her together. What are the chances of TRV approval since PR would already be in progress?
2) I saw that post too where in a person was biking across the border and was maintaining RO just by being partially present in Canada for few hours.
I have already completed 8 months residency in Canada from March 2021 to Nov 2021. I still have 16 months to complete by July - 2024. I do not want to cut it close, hence was looking for suggestions if I can travel daily by staying close to the border and staying only for couple of hours.
Thank you for your response. So, your suggestion would be to get her TRV, move to Canada together and then apply for her PR? Are TRV’s approved for spouses?
She can try for a TRV but they aren’t guaranteed because she wouldn’t be a visitor. All you can do is try.
You are asking a question involving unusual situation. I say it's possible that you can sponsor your wife for TRV while living in the US and maintaining partial residence in Canada by visiting it daily. As you remember, the other poster suggested on this forum suggested that you may maintain your RO by simply stepping your foot into Canadian soil every day, for as little as an hour at the time.
Whether you can accomplish your goal or not depends on definition of "residence" under existing Canadian laws, and specific requirements of TRV visa. Which I don't know much about to begin with, and you have rather unique question and circumstances. I bet most people on this forum have no idea that you can bike into Canada for 15 minutes a day and thus maintain your RO. I think you should speak with an attorney who knows the controlling law and can give you reliable advise on this.
Last edited:
You can’t sponsor a spouse for PR if you don’t live in Canada. Assume the goal it to get PR and then citizenship so he needs to move to Canada he can’t just drive in for a few minutes everyday. If living in Canada then a spouse can’t remain living in the US on their H4. Only option is to try to get a TRV and sponsor inland or return to your home country while your spouse sponsors you from Canada.
I think you are pulling this from thin air. There was another poster on this forum who brought a link to CIC and code of regulation, which confirmed his claim that even a brief step on Canadian soil qualified PR for maintenance of residence for PR purposes. That's why I advised OP to speak with attorney. I don't know anything about TRV, and one must know all about it and definition of "residence" according to CIC to be able to give reliable answer to OP.
I don't like pulling things from thin air (or my own imagination), and insisting on its accuracy.
Thank you for your responses. I know my situation is unique and I can’t let my wife stay back in India till her PR gets approved. Another option that I was thinking of is applying for her MS in Canada and completely shifting there leaving US for Citizenship. What’s your take on this aspect?
I’ll research regarding the requirements for TRV when her husband is a PR. How about applying for study visa and we shifting together completely to Canada(BC to be specific)
@canuck78 is correct about the law requiring a PR "reside" in Canada to be eligible to sponsor a family member's PR visa application.
The primary law that requires a PR "reside" in Canada to be eligible to sponsor a family member is Section 130(1)(b) IRPR (Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations). See
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/page-18.html#docCont
The law is not thin air.
Many play games with designating where they "reside." Quite a few get away with it. Many others do not.
Frequent border crossings will generally reveal a pattern, a pattern which will likely disclose which side of the border an individual is actually residing. This ain't the 20th Century.
Otherwise, about those out-of-thin-air insinuations: Those who play games tend to be those who run afoul of elevated scrutiny, strict application of the rules, and are, for example, more likely to encounter difficult screening during border crossings . . . and then typically blame the officials. Yeah, there's a participant here who fits that bill to the T and not only blames the border officials but tends to misleadingly paint the PoE scene as much like that for others . . . and yeah, despite the occasionally correct observation, like a broken clock twice a day, this is a source here generally best ignored.
We also see periodic theories about ways to dance on both sides of the fence. Even when the theory fits inside the rules, this too is largely about playing games, engaging in a scheme. Which has risks even if, again, one stays technically within the rules. Moreover, most of these tend to be far, far more difficult to execute practically than their proponents acknowledge. There are few success stories, and those are generally suspect at best.
The exception is the do one, get it done, then the other. Many appear to succeed doing this. Indeed, establishing status in Canada to eventually get into the U.S. seems to be a fairly common and successfully followed through plan. Not one I recommend, since I cannot recommend living in the U.S. (churns my stomach just to think of it). But there is no shortage of those on that path streaming through this site.
But the bicycle into Canada for a bit enough days to meet the PR Residency Obligation plan, sure that clocks the RO credits (which almost all veteran participants in this part of the forum know well), but the odds of following through given the real world practical hurdles that will involve are, well, sort of betting on the long shot who is sure to scratch before the starter's pistol is even loaded. In other words: pure distraction.
The primary law that requires a PR "reside" in Canada to be eligible to sponsor a family member is Section 130(1)(b) IRPR (Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations). See
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/page-18.html#docCont
The law is not thin air.
Many play games with designating where they "reside." Quite a few get away with it. Many others do not.
Frequent border crossings will generally reveal a pattern, a pattern which will likely disclose which side of the border an individual is actually residing. This ain't the 20th Century.
Otherwise, about those out-of-thin-air insinuations: Those who play games tend to be those who run afoul of elevated scrutiny, strict application of the rules, and are, for example, more likely to encounter difficult screening during border crossings . . . and then typically blame the officials. Yeah, there's a participant here who fits that bill to the T and not only blames the border officials but tends to misleadingly paint the PoE scene as much like that for others . . . and yeah, despite the occasionally correct observation, like a broken clock twice a day, this is a source here generally best ignored.
We also see periodic theories about ways to dance on both sides of the fence. Even when the theory fits inside the rules, this too is largely about playing games, engaging in a scheme. Which has risks even if, again, one stays technically within the rules. Moreover, most of these tend to be far, far more difficult to execute practically than their proponents acknowledge. There are few success stories, and those are generally suspect at best.
The exception is the do one, get it done, then the other. Many appear to succeed doing this. Indeed, establishing status in Canada to eventually get into the U.S. seems to be a fairly common and successfully followed through plan. Not one I recommend, since I cannot recommend living in the U.S. (churns my stomach just to think of it). But there is no shortage of those on that path streaming through this site.
But the bicycle into Canada for a bit enough days to meet the PR Residency Obligation plan, sure that clocks the RO credits (which almost all veteran participants in this part of the forum know well), but the odds of following through given the real world practical hurdles that will involve are, well, sort of betting on the long shot who is sure to scratch before the starter's pistol is even loaded. In other words: pure distraction.
The rules for claiming a day towards PR are different than the rule requiring a PR to live in Canada in order to sponsor a spouse. One is a residency requirement with more flexibility. The other is a requirement to be "living" in Canada with less flexibility. I agree with the comments that the OP needs to be actually living in Canada in order to qualify to sponsor their spouse. We see this rule fairly consistently applied by IRCC. IMO living in Canada and working during the day in the US should work because the OP will be viewed as primarily residing in Canada (i.e. sleeping in Canada, having a primary address in Canada, presumably spending weekends in Canada). Living in the US and traveling to Canada for a period of time each day will not work.
Overall, I agree that a lawyer would be a good idea but would also caution against trying to get around the "living in Canada" rule even if the lawyer recommends it. We have two people right now in the Family Sponsorship section of the forum who tried to do this (on the recommendation of lawyers) and it's not going well (plus a few who did it without legal advice).
PRs need to be living in Canada at the time they submit the application to sponsor a spouse and need to continue residing in Canada while the application is processed (occasional short trips outside of Canada are OK of course). Once of the examples from the Family Sponsorship section of the forum includes someone who submitted the sponsorship application from outside of Canada and the returned to Canada very soon afterwards (1-2 weeks later, I believe) and has been living in Canada since then. Based on the additional information requests from IRCC, the applicant now expects the application is going to be refused and they will need to reapply from scratch. They are understandably not happy with their lawyer who told them this would be fine. Different scenario than the OP of course but it demonstrates IRCC's lack of flexibility as it relates to the "living in Canada" rule for PRs who are sponsoring their spouses.
Thank you for your clear, enlightening and reasonable answer, which distinguished definition of residence for sponsoring purposes from definition of residence as applied to RO requirements. As someone who twice admitted ignorance of TRV visa requirements, I appreciate the input you provided.
It's a pleasant relief to see no delusional projections, visions of "payed games" and paranoia in it. I bet someone who sees games and insinuations in each ink blot has totally gamed, played and defrauded their way into Canada, and therefore is possessed by delusional visions of "games" and "plays" and other things coming from depth of their own profoundly fraudulent personality. Psychiatric help and heavy regimen of medications in such instances are in order (alas, not my specialty, so can't tell which medications will work).
To OP: It's a common consensus that you should seek advise of a licensed immigration attorney who can give you the most reliable insight and advise on what options you have. Good luck!
Last edited: